Her Teddy
by Abboz
Summary: Set in the SwitchVerse. With Rose cuddled up to him asleep, still recovering from their time apart, the Doctor talks to her little brother, Tony, about her need to rest and finds out more about the time she spent without him, bonding with the child more.


Her Teddy

_Set in the SwitchVerse._

"Rose! Rose! Rose!" Tony bounded into the living room, grinning as he saw the Doctor. "Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!"

"_Shh_." He smiled as he held a finger up to his lips, glancing at Rose where she was cuddled up to him asleep, checking she hadn't been disturbed. "You've gotta be quiet, let your sister sleep."

"She said she'd play a game with me."

"Yeah, yeah I bet she did, why don't you wait until she wakes up though?"

"Okay. Will you play with me then? You can play, you're not sleeping."

"Shh." He tucked Rose's hair behind her ear. "I'll play with you when she wakes up. Why don't you do some drawing 'til then?" He pointed at the piece of paper on the coffee table.

"Okay." He sat on the floor, reaching to grab the paper and the pencils lying beside it. He took a book to lean on, putting the paper on it and resting it in his lap as he began to draw. "Can't you play now though?"

"No, Tiger, not yet. Look at Rose, doesn't she look peaceful?" The boy nodded. "Yeah, exactly, so I don't wanna disturb her, and if I move away it'll disturb her. You're smart, you understand that right?"

He nodded. "Yup! Mummy and Daddy say I shouldn't disturb them when they're asleep unless it's important and especially not before nine at the weekend."

The Doctor grinned, pointing at him. "Exactly, that's it. And, and, oh! You know how when you go to bed you have your favourite teddy bear and someone tells you a story, but if you don't get to cuddle him and you don't get a bed time story then you can't sleep very well, can you?" Tony shook his head. "You need to have at least one of them to sleep well, right?" He nodded to get him to nod back. "Well this is like the same thing, I don't sleep well at all if I don't get to cuddle Rose and she sleeps better if she's cuddled up with me."

He continued to scribble away on the paper. "You're her teddy?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Yeah I'm her teddy."

"But why's she sleeping? I don't even have naps anymore."

"Because she's tired. If you go to bed late a few times doesn't your mum tell you that you need to catch up on your sleep?"

"She says I need to make sure I get enough sleep."

"Yeah and I know you know how hard Rose's been working."

"Yeah, she did lots and lots of work but always made time to play with me!"

"Yes, because she loves you so much. But you see because of all the work she was doing and how much it took to…" He pressed a kiss to the top of Rose's head. "Well, to get back to me, she wasn't getting as much sleep as she should have been, in fact about half as much as she should have had, and that's for all the years she was working on her project, from before you were born."

"She was always up really early when she stayed here."

"Yeah, exactly. Her body adjusted to that, it got used to running on that small amount of sleep, she was used to always being tired but now that she doesn't need to do that work anymore, and now that we've been reunited she can relax and she isn't so worried and upset and stressed out. She can sleep better now, she gets a proper night's sleep cuddling with me. It's complicated and I don't know if you'll understand but I'm sure your mum felt the same when she found your dad again. You see because Rose is in love with me." He closed his eyes for a second, smiling as he held her closer. "Because she feels that way, when she was separated from me it broke her heart, it broke mine too but she was heartbroken and that made her very sad, you and your mum and dad make Rose very happy but underneath that she was still quite sad, and that makes it hard to sleep properly if at all. It was her broken heart and her faith in our love that made her fight for us and work so hard to get back to me. But now that I'm here with her and I can hold her, tell her I love her and make her feel protected, safe and loved and like she's really home, she's completely happy. She isn't tired all the time anymore because she sleeps properly and for a longer amount of time, she wakes up feeling rested and happy like she should do, but she's had a long time of not sleeping properly so she's still catching up on her sleep. She just needs to rest because she hasn't for a long time." He looked down at her, well aware there was a tear in his eye. "Do you understand?"

He nodded. "Yeah." The Doctor looked back at the boy, noticing how sad he sounded. "But she's happy now right? She's alright, nothing's going to happen to her?"

"No nothing's going to happen, she's fine, and yes she's happy." He smiled to reassure him. "Don't worry about your sister." He gently shifted his hold on her as she nestled closer. "You see Tony, because me and Rose are so close she missed me a lot, we have a very strong connection and she was used to living with me and seeing me every day and getting lots of hugs and cuddles and sleeping in the same bed as me. We were nearly always together and it had a big effect on her to be completely separated. But she's content, she's happy and she's a really strong woman, a bit of sleep and she'll be up running about and playing with you in no time."

"I know." He looked thoughtful. "But poor Rose."

"Yeah, poor Rose."

"It always made me sad when I saw her cry."

"It makes me sad to see that too." He squeezed Rose tighter. "So sad, but she's not going to cry like that anymore."

"I always gave her a cuddle to cheer her up and stop her crying. Told her I'd cuddle her for you."

"Oh Tony." He smiled. "Thank you. I'm gonna give you a big hug for that in a bit. Thank you so much for cuddling her for me."

"You're welcome." He grinned. "I'm just happy she's got you back, she always used to say she missed your hugs, well actually she used to say she missed everything but she said she missed your hugs and missed falling asleep in your arms and listening to the sound of your hearts."

He looked down at her, unable to resist a smile. "Did she talk to you about me a lot?"

"Yup. For as long as I can remember. Especially when she was sad. She said I didn't worry about her like Mummy and Daddy but she was wrong, I did worry. But I liked it when she talked to me because she said she could trust me and then I could cuddle her and make her feel better."

"Well you did a brilliant job of it. Thank you."

"I hope so. She always used to talk to me about how she felt and what she missed, I didn't understand a lot of it but she definitely missed a lot, she missed you."

"And I missed her just as much."

"I think Mummy knew how she felt, 'cause when Rose talked to her about stuff she always looked sad too. Sometimes I heard Mummy promise her the pain would go away, and, and, something about… worth… w…"

"Worthwhile? Did she say it would be worthwhile?"

"Yeah! That was the word."

He shook his head, a touch of a smile on his lips. "Your mum told Rose that all the work would be worthwhile? Did she tell Rose the pain would be worth it to be together again?" He stroked her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That, that I would make it all better?"

"Yup. Mummy loves you, she wouldn't admit it but I know she does. I think it's because you make Rose very happy." He put his pencil down, taking a moment to select the next colour. "She was always very… she always told Rose not to give up, she knew she would make it. Mummy told me you two are meant to be together but I already knew that."

He grinned. "Well Tiger, I think that's because your mum knows what it's like to lose your dad, she had even longer without him and I think she knew a lot of how Rose felt too. But she also remembers what it was like to get him back."

"Yeah I know, they had years apart because Daddy gave up his life for Mummy and Rose when Rose was just a baby. Mummy says he was a hero and Rose said you and her went back there and saw everything. Mummy says that she never thought she would see Daddy again and it broke her heart to lose him so she was so happy to see him again and get to be with him again because she loves him so much. She says it was a miracle, and that she is very happy to have me too." He looked up at the Doctor. "She said if it wasn't for you they wouldn't have found each other again, she said if it wasn't for you and you travelling with Rose I would never have been born. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, but you being born is down to your parents not me. You're a product of their love. You and Rose both exist because your mum and dad love each other so much and always have."

Tony beamed, quickly returning to his drawing. "That makes me happy. I like seeing Daddy and Mummy so happy together. It makes me happy that they're in love."

"You're a bit of a hopeless romantic aren't you?"

"What's that mean?" He looked up at him, eyes wide in interest.

"It means you're a big believer in love and romance, like you might think love is more important than anything. It means you believe in true love."

"Then yeah." He grinned. "Definitely."

"You're going to make someone, some _girl_…" He pointed at the boy's drawing. "Very happy some day."

Tony tilted his head, watching him quietly for a moment, brow creasing as he looked down at his picture than back up to the Doctor. "That's funny, why'd you change what you were saying?"

"Because I think there's a particular girl that you're going to make very happy, that girl." He wiggled his finger at the drawing until Tony held it up. "Her."

"You, you really think one day I might get to be with her?" A smile gradually spread across his face, tinted with disbelief. "Will she fall in love with me? You really think so?"

"Yeah, yeah I really do, Tiger. I think in forty years you two will be where your mum and dad are now."

"I hope so." He stood, tears in his eyes as he looked at his picture. "I really hope so. She, she's perfect, she's so beautiful. She's my bestest friend in the world and I, I…"

"You what?" He gestured for him to come closer so he could ruffle his hair, trying to keep the smile off his face. "What?"

"I love her lots and lots."

"I know you do. Hold onto that, never forget it. Come here." He tried to wrap his free arm round him but couldn't quite reach. "You're an amazing little boy." He smiled as Tony leant closer, placing his arms on the sofa and resting his head on top.

"You're really good with him."

The Doctor looked down at Rose as he heard her voice, pressing a kiss to her forehead and grinning. "Hello."

She nestled in a little closer, looking down at Tony. "Hello. Hope he hasn't been too much trouble."

He shook his head, leaning down to kiss her. "No no, he's been brilliant."

"Wasn't talking to you."

"Oi!" He couldn't resist a smile as Tony giggled a little. "Cheeky, thanks for that, I think you'll find we've been having a nice chat."

"Hmm, I heard. You really are good with him though."

"You think? I just like talking to him, he's brilliant, love him to pieces."

"I mean it. You talk to him like he's smart, which he is, you just talk to him almost like he's an adult rather than treating him like a small child, but still remember he is one enough to play with him and be childish and answer his questions. You don't patronise him, he hates it when people do that."

"Yup!" Tony peered up at him, climbing up on the sofa beside them and leaning into the Doctor's side.

The Time Lord smiled. "Well it's what you deserve." He briefly slipped his arm from round Rose to hug the boy. "I owe you a hug. Thank you again."

Rose gently placed a hand over the Doctor's, stealing his arm to make him put it back around her. "Tony you wanted me to play a game, yeah? Go and get whatever we need and then I'll play."

"Okay!" He pulled away from the Doctor and hopped off the sofa, shoving his picture into the Doctor's hand as he ran off to find what they needed.

"What's he been drawing?" She pointed at the piece of paper. "Can I see?"

He placed the drawing on his lap, delicately tracing his fingers over the pencil lines. "The girl he's in love with."

She smiled, laughter tinting her breath. "The girl he's going to make very happy some day? I was listening. That was very sweet what you said to him."

He pushed his hand into her hair, fingers curling round the back of her neck as he drew her in for a kiss. "Your little brother deserves to have his dreams come true."

Rose grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. "He does." She looked back at the drawing in his hand. "For a four year old he's done a good job, captured her well." She gently ran her fingers over the dark hair of the girl in the picture. "He's even put little flecks in her green eyes."

"When you love someone you notice the little details, even the things they don't."

She smiled as he reached across to brush her fringe away from her eyes, meeting her gaze. "Like the statue."

"Like the statue."

She cupped his cheek to pull him into a kiss. "You're a big hopeless romantic too. And you already make me very happy." She gradually slipped her hand into his hair, beginning to play with the strands. "I love you."

"I love you too, Rose." He smiled.

"And thanks for letting me sleep, sometimes I just feel so exhausted."

"I know, I understand."

"Good." She drew him back in for a kiss. "But it means a lot to me that you don't just wander off and leave me there asleep. I do sleep so much better when you're here, you know when I can feel that you're right here." She reached across for his hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing. "It's always nice to wake to you too."

He gently blew a stray lock of hair away from her face, pressing a kiss to her nose as the sensation made her smile. "I'm happy to stay, you know that, and if I can be a comfort in doing so then even better. I'm not going anywhere." He shifted his hold on her to hug her properly. "Anything I can do to make you feel better I'll do it, you just have to ask." He gently released her, running both hands through her hair before holding her face. "And I certainly don't mind helping you sleep better, especially when it means I get to cuddle you."

"I know." She smiled. "My 'teddy' are you?"

He rolled his eyes, pulling her into a kiss with a smile. "Shut up."


End file.
